Yankees' Clarke Schmidt 'felt healthy' following 32-pitch live batting practice session
Yankees pitcher Clarke Schmidt delivers in the first inning during Game 3 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium. Credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara
TAMPA, Fla. — Yankees fans who were freaking out about Clarke Schmidt’s shoulder fatigue — “Oh, no, not another pitching injury!” — can take a deep breath.
So can Schmidt.
The righthander told Newsday he “felt good” after throwing a 32-pitch live batting practice session on Thursday afternoon at Steinbrenner Field.
“Felt healthy,” Schmidt said. “That’s the most important.”
Whew.
It’s still unlikely that Schmidt will make the Opening Day roster as he is behind the pitch count one would want a starter to have at this point. But even if Schmidt begins the season on the injured list, the Yankees hope that by mid-April, they’ll have a healthy starter to add to a rotation that has taken body blows with Gerrit Cole’s Tommy John surgery and Luis Gil’s lat strain. Cole is out for at least this season and Gil, the reigning AL Rookie of the Year, is expected to miss at least the first three months.
Schmidt was effective when healthy in 2024, going 5-5 with a 2.85 ERA in 16 regular-season starts. He struggled in the postseason, however, going 0-1 with a 5.25 ERA in three starts. He counts as a big piece for the 2025 Yankees, even if he stays in Florida when their season opens on March 27 in the Bronx.
“I think we’re still up in the air on it,” Schmidt said. “Obviously, we’re back against the wall with the pitch count stuff as a starting pitcher. Sometimes you’re kind of chasing uphill a little bit. But kind of up in the air still. Happy with [Thursday’s session]. Really happy with it. Was able to get two ups and continue to keep my workload where we feel happy with it.”
Schmidt faced a group that included Austin Wells, Paul Goldschmidt and Dom Smith. He didn’t have to ask the hitters how his stuff was; Schmidt could see it from the swings they took.
“I was getting good feedback from the hitters,” he said. “I think the sinker was really sharp, and that’s typically the pitch where if I’m able to get swings and misses on that, I’m feeling really good about my stuff. So I was able to get a few on that. I was really happy with that.
“And the curveball and the off-speeds were sharp. Getting swings and misses on fastballs for me, that’s something where I’m able to gauge, like, OK, that’s coming out good today.”
The top of the Yankees’ rotation is set with Carlos Rodon, Max Fried and Marcus Stroman, who was starter No. 6 when spring training began.
Carlos Carrasco likely locked up a rotation spot with five shutout innings against Atlanta on Wednesday night. The former Mets righthander, who turns 38 on Friday, can opt out of his minor-league contract on Saturday. It would be surprising if the Yankees let him get away for nothing after he pitched to a 1.69 ERA in five spring training games (four starts).
“He’s right in that mix,” manager Aaron Boone said. “I don’t want to speak too soon, but he’s done everything he can to give himself that opportunity.”
Carrasco struggled in his final season with the Mets in 2023, going 3-8 with a 6.80 ERA. In 2024, he went 3-10 with a 5.64 ERA for Cleveland. But he feels as if he rediscovered something this spring training.
“It feels really good, getting those pitches back like I used to pitch four or five years ago,” Carrasco said. “I know we had some rough years, and we learned from that.”
Carrasco, a leukemia survivor, said he’s not sweating the approaching opt-out date.
“Listen, I’ve had a lot of tough times in my life, so this is nothing,” he said. “The only thing that I can control now is pitch every five days.”
With two off days during the first five days of the regular season, the Yankees won’t need five starters the first time through. With Schmidt not yet ready, the final starter job would appear to be Will Warren’s to lose. The rookie righthander started against Baltimore in Sarasota on Thursday night and allowed four runs in 3 2⁄3 innings. He went into the game with a 3-0 record and 2.87 ERA in five spring training appearances (four starts).
Last season, Warren went 0-3 with a 10.32 ERA in six outings (five starts) for the Yankees, who may have telegraphed their final decision when they sent non-roster rotation candidate Allan Winans to minor-league camp hours before Warren’s outing.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
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